When The World Has Turned Upside Down
by snickers-03
Summary: Dib isn't doing so well with the news that Zim is not dead and the idea of that actually surprises him. Occurs right after Issue Two of the comic series so spoilers!
1. Chapter 1

Notes: I don't know what I'm doing. I just wanted to write something slightly angsty and depressing after reading Issue Two of the comic series. This is kind of one-sided.

...

As the sun rose up high over the various suburban homes' rooftops, Dib was busy making sure the bright sunshine stayed firmly outside of his immediate space. Buried under several blankets, he hid his face further, preferring to stay in darkness rather than acknowledge the early morning sun.

There was the sound of banging pots and pans, signaling Gazlene was up and probably attempting to make breakfast. Or perhaps her wrath was on the loose again which was even more cause for his staying in bed all day.

This had become a daily occurrence for him, with him even abstaining from going to skool for a while. It had gotten bad for a while there, he'd admit it. Maybe he should have made an effort to actually shower and change clothes but dammit, he had a mission he had to complete.

None of that mattered now, of course. No, not since he had actually reappeared, proving not to be dead, as the boy once thought. At the moment, he was currently struggling to decide which was worse, the idea of the alien actually being gone or proof that he was, in fact, alive and well.

Dib mused that the alien may never stop, may always be a constant presence in his life. He didn't know how he felt about that. Right now he just felt empty and numb inside. That was cause enough for a blanket burrito.

Sometimes in life, people get what they want but more often than not, though you've tried your best and your hardest, things just don't happen for you. It's important to recognize that, to let it go and not to obsess over the losses in the game of life. Sometimes, it's just not in the cards for you.

More clanging and banging around from downstairs caused Dib to finally pop up his head, out from under the covers and to glare at his bedroom door in irritation. He pondered whether or not to actually storm down the stairs and start an unwinnable argument with his sibling.

He let out an frustrated sigh and let the covers spill off of himself to fall down onto the floor below. He rubbed at his face, letting his eyes adjust to the sunlight creeping in around his black out curtains. He reached out blindly onto his nightstand for his glasses, placing them onto his face.

He didn't like feeling this way, feeling the longing for another that wasn't reciprocated, not in the slightest. Unrequited love was what it was called. He held his head in his hands, just taking a few deep breaths and readying himself to actually get up and go out into the bright sunshine. It was time, he had to stop hiding away inside like this.

Dib descended down the stairs, surprised to find both his father and sister in the kitchen instead of just his sibling alone. His father greeted him, cup of coffee in hand as he scrolled through one of his screens in his hand, reading intently.

Gaz was indeed making breakfast or attempting to as she had several eggs cracked and emptied into a bowl and bits of flour all over the counter tops. The boy busied himself with getting some juice from the fridge, wearily watching her out of the corner of his eye though it seemed all for naught as she wore a small smile on her face.

Sitting at the table to try to wake up and sip at his juice, the family unit was quiet except for the noise of the pan on the stove and the mixing of pancake batter by Gaz.

Dib's idle mind wandered to him and what he may be up to before he angrily shook his head of the thought. Fuck him... he doesn't deserve my attention. He didn't like to often entertain the idea that he may be going insane as he heard enough of that from others but the almost constant drifting of his mind towards one green skilled alien seemed to be indicative of this.

Downing the juice in one gulp, Dib went to discard the glass in the sink and head back upstairs. Today wasn't the day for this, he'd try again tomorrow. No, he needed to head back upstairs into the darkness and retreat beneath the covers, hiding from the world.

He was however, stopped abruptly by Gaz, a firm hand placed against his chest as she peaked up at him through her bangs. "What's up with you? You've been acting weird the last week, just staying up there in your room. I'm making pancakes. You should... I don't know, eat some or something."

The raven haired boy just looked at her and frowned as she turned back to the stove to perfectly flip one of her pancakes. Their father continued silently reading his tablet.

"Look... let's just say I'm going through some things right now." Dib shrugged and then moved to head towards the stairs once more.

Neither of his family members looked up as he slowly made his way back upstairs. He sighed once the bedroom door was shut again, slumping back against it, covered in darkness. He knew this was taking the easy way out, just hiding away like this. He just... didn't feel like trying. He didn't want to deal with... him.

Climbing back under the blue covers, Dib sunk down deep underneath them, shutting out the world around him. He'd work on dealing with this monday. For now, he had to try to forget him and the strange feelings and compulsions that he brought on.


	2. Chapter 2

Notes: So I really, really love that the comics had brought back Invader Zim. I couldn't just leave this story with the one chapter and had to write more. I'm not sure how long I'll be expanding the story but a little more is necessary.

I see this as being right after Issue Two of the comic so of course Zim has just returned back to Dib's life after a long absence.

...

Sitting here in my pajamas at 4:20pm on a monday, my life couldn't get any worse, could it? The microwaved suddenly dinged, bringing the big headed teen's attention span back to the present around him.

"Ooh! Noodles!" He said, quickly getting up from his place on the couch to retrieve his cup o' noodle from the microwave.

The doorbell sounded just then and he heaved a sigh of frustration, abandoning his late lunch on the counter.

"Dib! Door!" His sister's shrill voice sounded from upstairs.

"I heard it!" He called back irritated as he threw open the heavy wooden door.

On the other side was none other than Zim, beaming at him for some strange reason. He gave a quick, little wave. "Hi!"

Dib slammed the door shut in his face and went back to his noodles. The Irken proceeded then to repeatedly press the door's bell over and over as the bespectacled boy promptly ignored him and went to sit on the couch once more.

Gaz began storming down the steps, a darkness seeming to creep over the house as she approached. She threw open the door to a now terrified Zim. "WHAT?!"

"Oh... uh, heh, hello Gaz-Human. Is your brother around?"

She took in his stance, the nervous way his eyes were darting all around then jerked her head towards the boy on the couch, leaving the door wide open and stomping back upstairs. Zim let himself in and shut the door behind him, approaching Dib.

The boy was chomping down on the fresh noodles, effectively burning his tongue from the hot, soupy water. "Son of a-!"

He glanced up at the alien and narrowed his eyes dangerously. "What do you want?"

"To form a truce, Dib-Human. I am here for your... friendship." Zim said, his eyes narrowing as well.

"Ha!" Dib laughed outright, getting up to grab a soda from their fridge, nearly knocking the alien over in the process.

He followed him none the less. "Zim is serious, human. A truce is in order. You fought a good fight. It was long and hard for a while there. But... put 'er there!"

He'd outstretched a long, gloved arm with three small claws at the end towards Dib who just cocked an eyebrow as he stared back at him. "What? Do you really expect me to fall for this? Some elaborate joke? Some new plan of yours? Get lost."

Taking his seat back on the couch, he clicked on the television to watch a rerun of Mysterious Mysteries. It was a shame they'd had to cancel the show due to lack of interest. Well, that was what the network had said but Dib was certain it was just because of the corporate heads who were money hungry. That and they didn't want the truth getting out of course.

Dib downed his soda and when the Irken Invader continued standing just to the left of him, he rolled his eyes and turned to him in irritation. "Hey, get out of here, Zim! I'm not falling for whatever you're planning!"

The Irken continued staring at the boy a moment longer, his eyes growing serious. So Dib just tried to ignore him, turning up the volume of his show and slurping down his cup o' noodle. After a moment the alien sat down next to him on the far end of the sofa and stared at the TV screen as well.

At commercial break, Dib finally tore his attention away from the particularly captivating episode about Bigfeets to realize the alien was still in his house.

Dib scoffed. "What are you up to?"

Zim lowered his eyes towards the coffee table in front of them and wondered just why it was that the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. The boy set his empty paper cup and fork on the table, his eyes never leaving the green skinned alien. "Hello? I asked you a question!"

"Dib-human, what is the point of existence on this dirt-ball?"

The boy took a deep breath, shaking his head to try to calm his anger. He punched up the volume to the TV and went back to ignoring the alien. He was just trying to bait him into a fight. "You know what? I don't care, Zim. Do what you want. Just leave me out of it."

Zim looked at him, truly perplexed by his hostility and so he continued with his line of questioning. "What do you do on this planet in addition to this magic box watching? Isn't there some other grand point to this stink ball?"

"The point is humanity, Zim. We're humans, we live, that's it. We do whatever we want to do."

"But... what if what you want is too far out of reach?"

Dib was taken back. Was he actually having a real conversation with the alien menace instead of just getting into a pointless screaming match? He chanced a glance at him and noticed the way he looked so small.

His voice took on a softer approach then. "Well... we can't have everything. I mean, life is hard and it's a struggle and that's just how it is."

Zim glanced up into his amber eyes looking as calm and pensive as he'd ever seen him. "Yes... I suppose it is."

Dib blinked at the alien, muting the TV once the show returned despite his initial interest. "What's so out of reach for you? What? Enslaving the human race? I'm telling you, I really don't care what you do-"

"I am no longer a member of the Irken Armada."

Dib chuckled. "Yeah right."

But Zim just continued staring at his claws in his lap.

"Right. Well, what does that even mean? Like, you're just stuck here or something?"

"...perhaps."

"Perhaps. Right." Dib nodded to himself, rolling his eyes. He stood up, collecting his empty soda can and soup cup, moving past the alien to discard them. "Well, gee, what a tragedy, Zim."

The episode on the TV continued on in the background still muted, his amber eyes flicking towards it once or twice from his stance in the kitchen. He turned his attention back to the alien, his hands firmly placed on his hips. "So, why tell me, huh? Why should I care? Shouldn't you, you know, just burrow further underground like you did for all those months? I mean, I had no idea where you were, not that I cared. I didn't."

Zim stood slowly, making his way over to Dib with a look of remorse on his face. "Dib-human. I'm not stuck here. I can leave anytime I want. But I... have no reason to. I also have no reason to stay."

Once again, the boy was caught off guard by the frankness of the Irken's words. Feeling less and less like this may be a trick, the teen was starting to grow uncomfortable with the late afternoon's events. A voice in the back of his mind reminded him how soon his father may be home and the fact that his sister was still upstairs. If the alien had truly been cast aside, perhaps this was truly his chance to capture the green blooded hobgoblin once and for all.

But as Zim moved to head towards the front door unprompted, head hung low, Dib felt something akin to sympathy bloom inside his chest. "Wait!" He nearly shouted, despite his better judgment. "So, what, your leaders just abandoned you here? You're... you're no longer going to take over the earth for Irk?"

Zim shrugged sadly. "They told me there was no need for another parking structure planet."

Anger burned within the human at the mere suggestion that his planet be used for nothing more than a parking lot but he brushed it aside to continue pressing the alien for information. "So... you're not taking over earth?"

The alien shook his head.

"And... you can't go back there?"

Once again, he shook his head silently.

Dib considered all of this. "What are you going to do?"

Zim opened the door, intent on leaving. "I dunno."

He began slowly walking away with Dib more than a little confused, left in his wake. He held the door open for a little while, just watching Zim slowly march back towards his base down the street. When the alien turned the corner and he could no longer be seen, he shut the door firmly behind him. Taking his seat back on the couch, he unmuted the show which was already rolling it's credits.

Dib let his mind roll over everything that had just happened and the consequences of it all. Just what was Zim planning? Was he telling him the truth or was this just another trick? His mind recalled the recent memory of the broadcast of his embarrassing attempt to try to get back into shape.

Sighing in irritation, Dib wondered just why the Irken would bother telling him any of this? Surely, it meant that he'd won after all. If Zim wasn't conquering earth then he was the victor, having defeated him. Perhaps, it was an honor thing on their planet.

The way the alien had looked had been haunting and the teen had suddenly found himself wanting to cure him of that look by any means necessary.

What was he saying? Fuck him! He was a terrible tyrant and some kind of crazed war lord on his planet. At least, that was the way he'd made it sound. In reality, Dib knew how much a klutz and imbecile the alien really was. Still, why on earth should he ever feel bad for him?

Gaz came bounding down the stairs then, surprising the boy out of his thoughts. "Clean up your mess! Dad's gonna be home any minute and we're going out to eat. It's my turn to pick the restaurant."

"Oh... right." Dib nodded. He'd forgotten about their plans.

Shutting off the TV, he suddenly turned to his sister, wanting to get her opinion. "Gaz... do you think Zim can be trusted and taken at his word?"

"Why not?" She shrugged, busy playing a game on her Game Slave 2.

"Well, he's an alien hell bent on enslaving the human race! But, he says he's not interested in that anymore. Should I believe him?"

"I don't care."

"C'mon Gaz! Seriously!"

She paused her game, raking a hand through her bangs in frustration as she eyed her older brother. "Look, Zim's an idiot. You're an idiot. For some reason, you two idiots have found each other and are happy, usually fighting with one another but I have seen you get along on occasion. Maybe he just wants to give up the whole charade and just be real friends for once."

Dib sputtered. "W-What?! We don't... we don't play fight, Gaz! This is real! This is for the earth!"

"Yeah, okay. That's dad's car in the driveway. Come on!" She called over her shoulder as she headed out the front door.

Dib, unable to respond from his incredulity, just stood alone in the living room, agonizing over the situation that had played out before him.

"Hurry up, Dib!" Gaz screamed from outside, causing the boy to jump and race out the door as well.


End file.
